Perhaps the most radical recommendation of the NCTM Standards is that
all children should learn a common core of high quality mathematics.
Yet even as "mathematics for all" has become the mantra of reform, most
parents' worry is not that all children learn, but only that
their own children learn--and get into the college of their choice.
Parents' anxiety about ensuring their own children's success has rapidly
transformed an academic debate about tracking into one of the more
contentious issues in education.

One tap root of tracking in U.S. mathematics education is the
tradition, dating back to the nineteenth century, of separating students
who appeared capable of college study from those whose appropriate
vocation seemed to be unskilled farm or factory work. These two tracks
had very different purposes. College-bound students were introduced to a
full range of geometry and algebra, while those in vocational tracks
were expected to master only arithmetic. Since algebra wasn't needed in
the world of work, it wasn't taught to students in these lower tracks.
This vocational tradition of low expectations (and low prestige) is with
us still.

However, the world of work has changed, and with it the demands on
vocational education. From advanced manufacturing to precision
agriculture, from medical imaging to supermarket management, competitive
industries now depend not just on arithmetic and percentages but on raw
data, spreadsheet analyses, and graphical representations. Quantitative
business models, statistical quality control, and computer-controlled
machines are the keys to America's renewed competitiveness. Anyone who
works--which is virtually everyone--needs to be prepared to deal with
these kinds of mathematical tools.

Today, virtually all jobs require some form of postsecondary
education. So vocational tracks must leave students well prepared for
higher education. Effective vocational programs set demanding
mathematical standards that include the kinds of higher-order thinking
heretofore found only in the academic track. In fact, the strongest
vocational programs find that as many as 80% of their graduates go to
college or technical institutes. For many students a vocational program
may be the best route to a college education.

This may appear ironic, but it is not surprising. Mathematics in the
workplace offers students opportunities to grapple with authentic,
open-ended problems that involve messy numbers, intricate chains of
reasoning, and lengthy multi-step solutions--opportunities that are
rarely found in traditional college-prep mathematics curricula. By
deploying elementary mathematics in sophisticated settings, modern
work-based tasks give students not only motivation and context, but also
a concrete foundation from which they can later abstract and
generalize.

Traditional vocational tracking certainly must end, since it leaves
far too many students unprepared for the contemporary world of work.
But there is merit in dual tracks--vocational and academic--that impose
equivalent expectations for substance and depth. For many students,
perhaps the majority, a modern vocational program offers the best of
both worlds--preparation for college and for employment. It could become
a parent's dream.